


Masquerade

by NotEvenCloseToStraight



Series: Short Stories! [65]
Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Ballroom Dancing, Bonding, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Extra Legs and All, Fate & Destiny, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff and Mush, Happily Ever After, Insecure Wade Wilson, Love Bites, Love at First Sight, M/M, Monstery Sex, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Romance, Soulmates, Spideypool - Freeform, Strangers to Lovers, Supernatural Elements, Things will get Spidery, fangs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:42:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27295864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotEvenCloseToStraight/pseuds/NotEvenCloseToStraight
Summary: You are Cordially Invited to a Monster MasqueradeCome As You Truly AreOr As You Truly Wish To BeBeneath the Light of a Full MoonMay Mates Twine Tight in Eternity....when Halloween falls on a full moon, creatures come out of hiding to find their forever mate.Wade comes as a nightmare- scarred and violent and hurting, and Peter comes as a spider-- extra legs, extra eyes and poisonous fangs. Both know that only a soulmate could look at them and see beauty in their horror, and both have given up on ever finding true love.A masquerade ball is the perfect place to fall in love, and this Halloween Peter and Wade have come around for just one more try...
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, peter parker/ wade wilson
Series: Short Stories! [65]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/786345
Comments: 36
Kudos: 426





	1. Chapter 1

> _**You are Cordially Invited to a Monster Masquerade** _
> 
> _Come As You Truly Are_
> 
> _Or As You Truly Wish To Be_
> 
> _Beneath the Light of a Full Moon_
> 
> _May Mates Twine Tight in Eternity_

* * *

Tonight the moon rose full and silver over darkened mountain peaks, lit along the tops of the forests and glistened sterling off the surface of hidden lakes and winding rivers. It caught the sheen of animal eyes as nocturnal beasts crept from their den, tinted white against sharp teeth as predators closed in on prey, and coaxed the primroses, the capensis, and the jasmine to bloom in the pale warmth.

Closer to the cities the moon shone down on traffic choked freeways, on haphazard side roads and thousands upon thousands of tail lights as the populace tried to race home from hectic jobs, or race _away_ from home towards wild parties, or simply took to the streets to go anywhere that wasn’t where they’d already been before. 

The neighborhoods on the outskirts used the moonlight for a semblance of safety, the bright night taken as a guarantee that children would be _fine_ wandering along the sidewalks, that they would be fine crowding along in masks and costumes as they went house to house begging for candy. The shadows were banished to the furthest corners of the suburbs and so were adolescents who were more concerned with tricks rather than treats, who clutched eggs, toilet paper and water balloons and lurked beyond the moon’s reach till an unsuspecting victim stumbled into their path. 

It was Halloween and the moon was full, the air rich with a shimmer of anticipation. So many days out of the year a society stayed proper and regimented and acceptable, but one night, _this_ night, the costumes appeared and the masks went on, a soul was given the chance to be whomever or whatever it wanted and it was _freedom_. 

The humans went round in costumes and never knew the person beside them wasn’t faking the whiskers or the claws or the narrow, slitted eyes. Children breathed a sigh of relief when they could finally be _themselves_ after months of trying to hide a true fae spirit. Teenagers were able to stretch to their full too tall height, to open scales from the marks the doctors called _acne_ and shift towards their animal form. Mothers could shimmer gossamer wings and weave open magic instead of saying they got the tips and tricks from _Pinterest_ , Fathers could escape to their true forms and run through the woods. Selkie’s took their furs and escapes to the seas for a night and the avians took to the skies to fly in lazy circles with the moon glossing their feathers. 

The humans went round in costumes, but the others were free to simply _roam_. 

_Monsters_. 

_You are cordially invited to a monster masquerade._

It was Halloween and the moon was full, sweeping the wide valley in light as festivities for another All Soul’s Eve began, filtering through the trees and leaves where creatures stirred, and creeping up the sheer cliffs to hurry along the dark red stones of the Tower where it rose imposing on the hills to cut into the sky. 

The figure on the balcony was swathed in burnt gold, her hair like fire and limbs too long, eyes like emeralds and teeth too sharp. She was tall, too tall and fierce too fierce and she clutched claws at the railing and peered down into the cities, smoke wafting from parted red lips as she gave a sigh that was almost a _growl_. 

“Tonight is the night, my love.” she murmured and from the shadows came a man that wasn’t really a man at all to stand by her side. “The moon is full, the wind is cold and the stars are aligned in the sky above us. It is the perfect chance for our monsters to roam unmasked and untethered, the first time in a quarter century the conditions are ideal for mate matches to spark. Is everything ready below?” 

Her mate was a daemon of iron and steel, his form blurred at the edges where human and supernatural didn’t quite mold, his clothes made of the hardest metals turned liquid by the force of his powers and settling like silk over his frame. He was _terrifying_ , a demi god created in the desert and tempered in the sea but his dark eyes flickered electric blue with affection and adoration and worship as he reached for his Dragon Queen’s hand and pressed a soft kiss to her palm. 

“Everything is ready except for you, my Queen.” He murmured, his voice deep and hollow with the effort of centuries. “Will you be gracing us with your true form at the ball tonight?”

“No, my true form is your eyes only.” Her smile was endlessly fond, and wickedly sharp, and her daemon groaned in quiet appreciation when the golden swaths around her slim frame shifted and realigned, the scales clicking lightly as she moved them at will to cover her as a gown from high at her neck to sweeping the balcony floor past her feet. “The last time I unleashed my entire dragon, the hillside burned don’t you remember?”

“Vividly.” The iron gauntlets at his hand melded and liquified at his fingers, withdrawing so the daemon could draw bare fingers across his mates golden scales and the closely kept fold of wings at her shoulders. “You are lovely tonight.”

“I am lovely _every_ night.” She corrected loftily and he grinned in sharp agreement. “Escort me to the ballroom?”

“Always.” He promised and smoke puffed from the dragon's mouth as she laughed softly and leaned in for a slow kiss. “It is always you for me, my Queen.” 

The Tower on the hills was ancient, older than the original settlements that became the cities below, older than the grandmother trees that grew as evergreen sentinels along the forest paths. The humans had never known a time when the Tower wasn’t there. Perhaps there had been a season some millenia ago when the hills had stood empty but then one day the hills were suddenly _not_ empty and the Tower rose tall against the sunshine and that was simply the way it was. 

The centuries had cloaked the Tower in mystery, wrapped it in fog and grew the forest around it thick until the settlements that grew to towns and then cities talked about it as the old castle, the haunted home, and then eventually dismissed it as rumours and folklore and nonsense. 

It was _nonsense_ to think there was a Tower built of blood red brick and bright bronze parapets hidden in the rolling mountains around their valley. Humans had such amazing technology, so many proverbial eyes in the sky, nothing so obvious could be so hidden, the idea of a massive old castle up in the hills was _nonsense_ , a fairy tale, nothing more than spooky tales to tell on Halloween and then laugh at the next morning. 

But the Tower was no laughing matter. It was neither nonsense nor a fairy take though it certainly _was_ a story to tell on Halloween and any other night when the _Others_ walked a little too close to the surface and the monsters let their human disguise slip and fall away. 

The Tower was _ancient_. It had stood through both human wars and fae wars, had survived fire and floor and wind storms, supernatural lightning and siren screams that had brought lesser homes down to rubble. The Tower remained despite the passage of time, the shaking of the earth as it stretched and rumbled, the wrath of the ocean when it boiled and foamed and unleashed it's rage on the civilization surrounding. 

The Tower remained as constant and strong and eternal as its inhabitants, and as the daemon brought his Queen down off the balcony and into their rooms, she paused and drew her claws over a new piece of gold added to the wall. It had been melted and formed into something intricate and delicate and lovely, spirals and fine lines, loops and swirls that spelled her name in a language only the dragon shifters spoke, and when she turned and arched a lofty brow at her mate, he held his hands up innocently. 

“I never know how these things come to be.” he teased, low and flirting with his mate of so many years. “Even the walls of this Tower must seek to worship you, to breathe your name out in _gold_ for you to admire.” 

“You are a hopeless romantic.” Her sigh was fond and the kiss he lay on her fingers was worshipful. “Creating golden ornaments for me like this. Never stop.” 

“ _Never_.” 

The daemons insistence that the Tower had breathed gold out into itself to charm the Queen wasn’t quite true… but it wasn’t quite _false_ either. 

The fortress had been originally built with the specific plan and purpose of protecting the creatures that called it home, and it served that particular purpose well. There were weapons built spring loaded into caches in the wall, winding staircases that went abruptly nowhere to trap an unfortunate intruder, walk ways that wound tighter and tighter before ending in the dungeons, strategically placed trap doors for when unwelcome company came knocking. There were empty rooms and confusing halls, alcoves that went far deeper than they should, some places only lit when the sun shone through, others with no windows at all and some that reflected the sky’s light off mirrors and would blind an intruder where they stood, searing their flesh and ruining their eyes. 

It was a fortress and yet it was a home and as the centuries had passed, the Tower had absorbed the magic of it's owners and now it simply... _was_. 

Extra rooms appeared from nothing when space was needed. A second dining room came to be when the Dragon Queen decided she preferred a bloody, messy meal. The widow’s walk winding the highest floors changed in both composition and severity depending on the daemon’s mood as he paced. The bedrooms were endless and lavish, silk and satin, velvet and fur, bold colors and inviting lines, waiting to change to exactly the right place to hold the mated pair wherever their love and lust brought them to lay. A forever expanding library kept books written in no mortal language and the forge where the daemon crafted tools of war roared with unholy heat but never singed the walls.

It was a fortress but it was home, and tonight it was meant to be a _haven_. Tonight the secret rooms weren’t meant to trap intruders but to shield lovers, the weapons charmed to be still unless a cry of _no_ or _stop_ lunged them free to impale someone who tried to take what they _shouldn't_. The winding staircases were to allow new mates hours to wander and learn each other without fear of being found, the walkways were littered with pillows and blankets, all bedrooms but the master’s quarters open for use as mates renewed their love and future mates tested the limits of their bond. 

The Tower was haven enough, but then just outside the fortress lay a maze of a garden full of mystical blooms to serve as haven too-- _agapanthus_ to aid in intuition as life bonds were forged, aster to encourage love that wasn’t just romantic but also spiritual. _Bougainvillea_ for beauty and cleansing, lilies to open the chakra and cherry blossoms to bring a primal innocence to the love made beneath the light of stars. Dahlias because shadows were so so sweet. Datura to help souls mingle in the astral plane, hibiscus for desire, potent sensual jasmine, and vivid lantana as a call to be honest, to finally be open and true to themselves and their soul. 

The garden was meant for long walks and slow rendezvous, kisses taken in the cover of the gazebo, for clothes torn and fangs bared beneath the apple and ash trees. It was meant for finding yourself lost and found in the one whose soul melded to your own --

\--but the ballroom was something very different altogether. 

_Come as you truly are or who you truly wish to be._

The humans thought Halloween was holy, some thought it was deadly, others thought it only signified the end of harvest and the changing of season, but really the night was sacred for this reason, and this reason _alone_ \-- 

True mates only found each other on a night when their true forms could show and tonight was _finally_ that night. 

The moon wasn’t only full, it was full for the second time in a single cycle. A blue moon that was rare enough already, but this was a blue moon that could be seen from anywhere in the world which meant _all_ souls were lifted, _all_ creatures were called, _all_ monsters heard the summons in their hearts and those with out mates clamored in excitement at the chance to finally be loved. 

For five hundred years the Dragon Queen and her daemon mate had hosted the masquerade ball only when the conditions were utterly perfect for others to find the contentment and happiness that they themselves were so blessed with. Their Tower home wasn’t quite _neutral_ ground between frequently feuding monster factions, but it was _revered_ ground simply by merit of being ancient and it was that reverence and respect that upheld strict rules of attendance and engagement within the masquerade. 

Vampires and werewolves had been enemies since the beginning of time, but tonight the vamp’s came in their finest clothes and most sparkling jewels and the werewolves sleeked their hair back and growled in respect and admiration at the beauty of their natural foes. Witches wound their magic close and when the warlocks came along, the two parties kept to opposite sides of the ballroom. The fae sparkled where they went but were careful not to ply the other dancers with wicked promises, the avian shifters stayed far from the felines and the nymphs kept their curious fingers and mocking laughter from the other daemons. 

The music stayed quiet and classic because despite the human’s insistence in jerking and flailing wildly to whatever _pop_ music was, the waltz was the decided pinnacle of dancing and served as a perfect chance for creatures to mingle close but not too close as they figured out whether or not their souls could move together. 

This masquerade wasn’t about hiding behind a mask and elaborate costumes, no, this masquerade was _first_ about coming as who they were-- vampires with fangs bared, werewolves half shifted, avians with feathers raised and water goddesses wrapped in sea plants and covered in shells--

\--and _then_ finding the one that would accept them as who they truly wished to be in their most primal moments. Serpents with their endless scales, witches wearing nothing but the color of their magic covering the barest skin, those that kept their true selves to the dark for fear of terrifying even their partner. 

The masquerade was about coming as the barely socially acceptable version of themselves and then being able to remove even that thin veneer, that thin mask and usually necessary covering and finally being _free_. The mating bond would start with a shared dance and then spark bright with a first kiss and as the Dragon Queen took her throne with her mate at her side and looked out over all who gathered, she smiled in quiet pleasure and remembrance.

It had been a night like this when she and her daemon came together for the first time, a masquerade where she’d worn nothing but her scales and he had pulled the iron ore from the very mountain side to craft a chain with the aid of her fire. It was the same chain the daemon wore round his neck now, one that matched the intricate set of rings on her fourth finger. Their _forever_ had started on a full moon, a blue moon, one where the entire world had been watching and waiting and falling in love, and tonight the memories of their mating were near and dear and _fond_ as she looked out on a full room of would be mates. 

“Welcome to our Masquerade.” The Queen spoke softly but every head in the ballroom turned, the music ceased and chatter quieted out of respect, out of fear, out of excitement. “This is the first time in most of a century that a blue moon has shown on all of us, and after so long waiting it is finally time for us to join in this dance as old as the world itself.” 

A quiet murmur of agreement and her smile grew, golden scales clicking as they rearranged to follow the open sweep of her arm, “May you find your mate beneath the light of the blue moon, and may eternity look as kindly on you as it has on myself and my love.” 

The daemon growled something sweet to his mate and a few in the crowd ‘awww’ed as the Queen blushed light pink in pleasure, then the music started again and the masquerade began in earnest as monsters and creatures, witches and fae alike began pairing off to waltz around the decorated room, to mingle by the table stretched heavy with food and drink, and even as the first song came to an end and another began, some were already sneaking away to the garden to discover each other. 

_Come As You Truly Are…._

….he came as a nightmare, as the bogeyman in so many children’s stories, the thing that goes bump in the night and the horror that lurks in the shadows and _watches_. He came as mania, as disturbia, as a man not quite alive but uncomfortably not _dead_ either. 

He wearing only trousers, bare chested and bare headed, twin blades strapped to his back and gleaming deadly beneath the chandeliers, all of his ruin on full display by way of scarred stretched skin, rough and awful and _hideous_ where it twisted at his eyes and pulled his mouth down into a near frown. 

He hurt all the time and it was evident in his stiff legged gait. Most days he could laugh off the stares and whispers, he could hide the bone deep aches and how even the air bothered his skin but here at the masquerade he wasn’t supposed to pretend to be fine, so he let it all show-- the pain, the ugly, the _trauma_.

He was a walking terror and though the other creatures made an effort not to grimace away, though they met his eyes with polite smiles and welcoming gestures, he knew they didn’t want him. An entire Tower full of monsters, a masquerade ball meant to help him find a mate and even here among the Medusa and serpents he was considered the most horrifying. 

_They didn’t want him._

_Or As You Truly Wish To Be..._

...He came as an Arachnae, dressed head to toe in skin tight _black_ , shirt unbuttoned to his navel to show the inked spider’s web over his chest and pants riding low on slim hips. Spiders were quick and he moved with a fluid sort of grace that allowed him to slip silently between the crowd and around the servants without so much as ruffling his hair. Spiders were _dangerous_ and fangs ran long behind his lips when the Arachnae smiled close mouthed at a beast that stared a little too long. 

Four extra appendages protruded from his back, gleaming bronze and finely made into props, and though his own eyes flickered dark brown in the candle light, an additional six carefully drawn _black_ eyes decorated down his cheeks to complete the costume. 

The entire effect was chilling, the entire picture _stunning_ , and there was not one among the creatures gathered at the ball that didn’t turn and stare as the Arachnae made his way right through the middle of the great room, shunning the corners and shadows his kind usually congregated in. He ignored the wolves who sniffed after him and growled in appreciation, side stepped the near physical compulsion a vampire couldn’t help but send his way, barely even blinked at the brush of red magic against his body as the Scarlet Witch wondered curious if they would match. 

The Arachnae were predators of the fiercest sort, more scheming than the fae, crueler than the felines toying with their next catch, more intensely fixated than the avians swooping in on an unsuspecting meal. They stalked, they crept, they darted in and _took_ and this Spider’s eyes melted empty, inky black when he set his sights on the one he wanted as h _i_ s. 

It was a risk of course, a gamble and a chance that his intended wouldn’t turn and shun him, wouldn’t flinch away from his fangs or turn queasy when faced with extra appendages and extra eyes. The Spider had been alone for so long, spent his life in the dark and in the corners, in the furthest places where no one wanted to look that he was near desperate for even a smile, half out of his mind needing just a gentle _touch_. 

The masquerade was about being true to himself and finding the only other monster who would think him beautiful, and it was worth the fear that threatened to choke him with every step for a once in a century chance to find love, to find soulmates, to find acceptance. 

Too long he’d been lonely and hiding and now-- now was his chance for something different. 

_Mine_... _please_?

He paused in front of the one who had come as a _nightmare_ , stopped just far enough away to give the other creature a chance to move back and reject him, should the _yearning_ flooding his veins be only one sided or misguided and he stayed unwanted again. 

His target was gorgeous, all rippling muscles beneath wrecked skin, hazel eyes that flickered ethereal yellow and translucent white as they looked him over, big arms and bigger shoulders, and an abdomen that jumped and flexed with every breath. The twin blades on his back looked terrifying, the danger in his gaze a clear challenge and the Arachnae’s mouth _watered_ imagining sinking his fangs into so much bounty. 

_Oh mine mine mine **please**. _

He held a cautious hand out palm up, inclined his head towards the dance floor with his heart stuttering in hope and his cheeks flushing readying for a betrayal…

… “My name is Wade.” A rough palm against his own, strong fingers pressing at his without fear of breaking fragile bones or catching whatever _ick_ humans usually thought spiders carried. 

“Oh.” he breathed out slow, careful, squeezed lightly back at Wade’s palm. “I’m Peter.” 

“...Dance with me?” 

“ _Please_.” 

*****************

They met on the dance floor, two horrifying creatures who couldn’t look away from each other, moving through the set steps of the waltz without breaking eye contact. The music swirled around them in familiar rhythm, the other dancers unnoticed and ignored as they came close and around and then back again, _one two three, one two three, one two three, pause._

They held hands tight, Wade’s grip at Peter’s side steady and secure and already possessive, calloused palms slipping beneath the nearly unbuttoned shirt to press at satin smooth skin at the Arachnae’s waist. It had been so _long_ since he had been allowed to touch, since beautiful lips had parted over a sigh when he was close, since eyes had gone hooded and wanting instead of wide and terrified and Wade had nearly forgotten what it felt like. 

It was intoxicating, and not only because of the crushed orchid and vanilla in the air, or the charmed mead over flowing from delicate glasses. Intoxicating and drugging because Peter’s eyes flickered hungry _black_ as his fingers dug into the scars at Wade’s shoulders and his tongue slipped out to leave his lips shiny and gleaming and tempting as Wade took them through a turn. _One two three, one two three, pause._

A tap at Wade’s shoulder and a fire daemon offered his hand to Peter, charming smiles and hopefully raised eyebrows as he waited for a chance to dance with the alluring Arachnae. 

He almost _lost_ his hand when Wade unsheathed one of the blades at his neck with a slick _schwing_ and threatened without a word, promised in a mere breath that if the demon so much as _touched_ the Arachnae, it would be his life as payment. 

The daemon shrieked and from her throne at the raised dias the Dragon Queen hissed a clear warning towards the nightmare, pointed a clawed finger at the pair and let her eyes _blaze_ in fury at the interruption to her carefully planned masquerade. 

If things continued this way, there _would_ be blood shed but it would be by way of _Dragon_ , and no one wanted to see that sort of massacre. 

The daemon chose not to press his luck though, bowed short and spun on his heel away and Wade offered his hand again to Peter, took the Arachnae back into the waltz and this time they stepped closer, they turned closer, _they one two three, one two three, one two three paused **closer**_ and then closer still as the minutes of music bled into hours and the night air swept across the open balcony to cool the sweat as it dripped from their brow. 

Silver light streamed in through the massive doors, cast the dancers in a pearly glow as the midnight hour approached and those who were only partially shifted started to _change_ , to itch and flex and ready themselves to shed their barely passing sheen of civility and unleash their true monster alongside their mate. 

Long paired couples disappeared up the winding stairs of the Tower to find a bedroom, an alcove, even just a quiet corner as the moon reached its highest point and their veins surged with sheer arousal and unbridled lust. 

Newly paired couples made their way to the balcony under pretense of simply looking at the stars, then down the steps to the garden to wander the maze as if they needed any other adventure than _bonding_. One by one the starlit groves would be discovered and occupied, the gazebos found and gauzy curtains drawn, the wild rose bushes plucked and petals lain on sweetly scented grass to serve as bedding for a marriage of bodies and hearts and souls. 

_One two three, one two three, one two three pause_. Peter reached to brush his fingers down Wade’s cheek, trilling in contentment when his partner turned to nuzzle at his palm and lay a gentle kiss at his fingertips. There were no words to be spoken, no words needed so long as they were dancing, so when Wade coaxed him forward Peter came without comment, when Peter’s extra limbs closed in slow and cautious at his shoulders and sides, Wade refused to pull away, stared deep into pitched eyes and didn’t bother hiding his gratified smile when Peter flushed in quiet pleasure. 

Peter wasn’t just beautiful, he was otherworldly and surreal, a creature of mythology and wonder and fright and Wade would never have enough. 

_One two three, one two three, one two three, pause._

Peter’s hand at Wade’s chest was almost shy, his breath hitching when the muscle twitched beneath his palm, the very tip of his fangs making an appearance as his fingers tracked down further and the dangerous, devastated creature leaned into the touch and growled in approval. Wade belonged to the night, to the shadows, not quite to the clutch of death and just out of reach of the living and Peter could almost feel the suspended soul vibrating just _there,_ just close enough to _own_. 

No words, but with every breath they moved in tighter and with every _one two three pause_ the Arachnae came a little closer to moaning over a touch and the undead one slipped further towards taking a chance and simply asking-- 

_Mine… please?_

The dance led them out to the balcony for fresh air as the ballroom became almost stifling hot, as the tension building between creature and creature reached a breaking point, as the music became only background to the pounding of their hearts and the arousal skittering beneath their skin. 

They found a nearly secluded corner where the ivy grew up the columns and along the window frames, where blackberries grew wild in thick, thorny walls. It wasn’t a place most chose to hide together, the ivy apt to poison and the thorns pricking blood but for a spider and a bogeyman it was exactly what they wanted, exactly what they needed, a perfect place to hide where no one would dare intrude for fear of pain. 

Wade leaned himself over the railing and stared out over the moon lit garden for a long time while Peter climbed onto the railing and partly up the wall, legs braced to keep himself steady and arms folded on his knees as he looked up at the stars. 

Behind them the music played in endless loops, below them quiet laughter and hungry growls echoed around the garden and in the windows above, lights blinked on as rooms were discovered and then _off_ as they were occupied. The masquerade was reaching a fever pitch before the moon started it’s descent down again and in their ivy and blackberry filled corner, Peter and Wade felt the excitement as prickles on their skin. 

It was Wade that finally broke the silence, adjusting the leather brace that held his swords and clearing his throat to ask, “What are you doing here, beauty?” 

“I’ve never been called _beauty_ before.” Peter smiled just a little, tight lipped and close mouthed. “I suppose I’m here for the same reason you are. A blue moon, a masquerade ball, the chance to come and find a mate.” 

Peter’s eyes flickered black again, and Wade blinked slow yellow and translucent white as the parts of him that weren’t close to human shifted and yearned and clamored to be _claimed_. 

They were silent again together, but then Wade reached out and wrapped his thick fingers around a delicate ankle, rubbed purposeful circles over the tight cut trousers until he could feel the heat of Peter’s skin through the material. 

“They say he calls her Pepper.” 

“Who’s that?” Peter’s gaze snapped down to watch the innocent, mostly chaste touch, the circles hypnotizing and Wade’s presence electrifying. “Who calls _who_ Pepper?” 

“The iron daemon.” Wade inched closer, slid his hand a little higher up Peter’s calf. “He calls the Dragon Queen _Pepper_.” 

“Wha--?” Peter’s mouth fell open in surprise at both the sort of hilarious fact and that Wade would know such a thing. “Is it-- is it because she’s spicy? Are red heads spicy?” 

And Wade laughed then, barked a surprised chuckle and Peter laughed right along with him and it was the first time in so long either of them had thought anything was funny, it took them both by surprise. 

“Why do you wear swords?” Peter came closer, tipped his head and clicked his tongue at the other creature so Wade would touch him more. He was starving for physical affection and Wade’s rough hands felt so good just right there, Peter could only imagine how good they would feel everywhere...else…

“I’m the thing that goes bump in the night.” Wade turned around so his back was to the railing and he could tip his head back to look up at the Spider. “Or haven’t you heard the stories of my terror?”

“Spider’s eat people who talk too much.” Peter circled his fingers around Wade’s wrist, pressed at the steady pulse and counted the beats absentmindedly. “So no, I don’t hear many stories. Is the bump in the night the sound of your sword handles getting caught while you creep around?” 

“It's the sound of my head on the floor, because being the bogeyman under your bed isn’t as fun as you think.” he answered dryly, and when the spider laughed at him again it was the most beautiful sound Wade had ever heard. 

“Silly bogeyman.” The edge of Peter’s fangs peeked out as he smiled. “I sleep in a web, no bed to creep under.” 

“Damn shame that.” Wade’s eyes dipped towards yellow again when Peter tipped his head and trilled coaxingly and pushed his other foot closer, clearly hoping for more attention. “Spider, are you lonely?” 

“Aren’t you?” Peter whispered, and Wade’s entire soul jolted in _longing_. “Isn’t it a relief for you to be here at the masquerade and know I see you as you truly are? Aren’t you tired of hiding? Tired of being treated like a monster even by the other monsters? Aren’t you _lonely_?” 

“I’m lonely.” Wade whispered back. “But there is a reason they treat me like a monster. A reason I am invited to every one of these masquerades and yet I leave alone every time.” 

“You won’t have to leave alone this time.” Peter’s six limbs held him steady at the wall so he could reach with both hands towards Wade. “Kiss me.” 

“Show me.” Wade answered instead, leaned back when all he wanted to do was slip forward and kiss those tempting lips. “Show me who you really are. I have no costume at all but I know you are still hiding. Show me.” 

“Oh but Wade I--” Peter hesitated, plucked nervously at the low v neck of his shirt, anxiously at the inked web over his chest. “I’m not um-- I’m not--”

“Pete.” Wade half begged, half growled. “ _Show me_.” 

...the Arachnae unfolded right there in front of Wade’s eyes, the thin attempt at _hiding_ falling away until the extra limbs that had seemed to be set and still and costumed were suddenly moving and shifting and straightening to hold him upright. The drawn on eyes on Peter’s cheeks blinked open two at a time-- two, four, six until there was _eight_ midnight black eyes staring down at Wade and when the Spider parted newly dark red lips, green venom dripped from curving fangs and sizzled on the railing below. 

It was Peter in his truest form, _horror_ open to the moonlight and to Wade’s hungry gaze and hidden away in their blackberry and ivy alcove, the creature that hovered between life and death reached for the monster he wanted as his and whispered, “ _Beauty_.” 

_Kiss me._

*************

> _**Chapter Notes!** _
> 
> _Pepper is the Dragon Queen and Tony is the daemon. I just love her as a dragon in general, and Tony “created in the desert and tempered in the sea” is a reference to Afghanistan, and then IM3 when the Malibu house went into the ocean._
> 
> _The “Tower” is the Avengers Tower, I just loved the idea of it as some insanely old castle that was more myth than fact anymore._
> 
> _This Halloween is not only a a full moon, but also a blue moon AND the 2020 Halloween full moon will be visible from pretty much anywhere in the entire world instead of just in specific parts, and it’s the first time since WWII era that the moon has done that, so call it a blessed moon or a cursed moon, whatever, it made the perfect Actually Legit background for this fic._
> 
> _Magical flowers and their meanings:<https://tesswhitehurst.com/the-magical-and-metaphysical-properties-of-flowers/> _
> 
> _Wade came as “Deadpool” of course, and I imagine Peter’s extra limbs looking like the ones in the Iron Spider suit where the four come out of his back vs. him looking like the traditional Arachne monster from the Greek Myth **[HERE](https://image.shutterstock.com/image-vector/arachne-greek-mythology-spider-half-260nw-1598106076.jpg)**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monstery Nekkidness  
> Over the Top Sweetness  
> Body Worship  
> All the things you expect from my Spideypool

“I am not beautiful.” Peter denied in the breath before their lips met and Wade rumbled, “ _Exquisite_.” before slipping his fingers into the Arachnae’s hair and bringing him into a slow, tentative kiss, just a brush, nearly chaste, mouths lingering and breath catching over a quiet, shared sigh as something shifted bonding and _golden_ between their hearts. 

“Ohh-h-hh…” Peter moaned low and soft, his entire body shuddering and all eight eyes falling shut for a moment of bliss. “Oh, Wade. You taste good.” 

“You taste good too.” Wade wet his lips after a sting of poison and tugged just lightly at the soft curls to bring Peter in close again. “C’mere and let me kiss you again. C’mere.” 

Peter came eagerly, bracing himself against the wall so he could turn on the railing and make room between his thighs, grabbing greedily at muscles as soon as he could reach and sighing in contentment when his fingers could track over the scars and rough patches of Wade’s skin.

As an Arachnae his hands were ultra sensitive, fingertips almost painfully aware of every microfiber in every material, each grain of sand on any surface, even just the scratch of grass through clothes. Most humans were slick with lotion or hair gel, oily with all the products on their body and hard to feel through layers of clothing and Peter didn’t like to touch them. 

...they didn’t like to touch Peter either, so in the end, it had never mattered. 

_But he loved to touch Wade_. “I love how you feel.” He whispered, tracing the line of one particularly brutal scar. “It’s like I can sense you down to your smallest parts, down to the atoms that created you, down to the mutation in your cells that turned you this way. You feel incredible.”

“I don’t remember the last time someone touched me.” Wade admitted in a hushed tone, and Peter admitted just as hushed, “I don’t know the last time someone touched me either.” 

Their next kiss was almost sad, sweet and melancholy as two lonely creatures found small comfort simply in being _together_. The moon rose higher in the sky and still they lingered behind the ivy and blackberry instead of venturing into the garden and towards softer places, Arachnae and _nightmare_ with fingers twined and foreheads pressed, sharing air as the magic of the night wound around them and through their souls. 

Touch starved, they were _touch starved_ and starving for each other and the music from the ballroom rose and fell through another refrain as they kissed and shivered and met one another closer and closer again. The embrace stayed gentle, touches strayed sweeping and curious but always adoring as Peter learned the shape of the damage along Wade’s shoulders and Wade felt carefully carefully along the hyper delicate skin at Peter's eyes and the tempting dip at the corner of his mouth.

He felt curiously along the length of one of Peter’s limbs, along the bronzed pieces that had seemed ornamental until he’d finally seen them move. Wade could feel the different joints now, the infinitely tiny hairs that marked a million different nerve endings, he could feel the strength thrumming through them and the flex of sinew and bone as he closed his fingers in a loose circle and _squeezed_ \---

“ _Fuck_.” Peter snarled into a suddenly hard kiss, nearly bit Wade’s lip off when his fangs cut reflexively deep and his entire frame jolted. “ _Fuck_. Don’t-- don’t--” 

“Sorry.” Wade pulled off immediately, a hand to his mouth where it was starting to bleed. “Sorry beauty, I should have asked, sorry, I--” his words slurred and Wade shook his head, stumbled back a few steps to lean against a column when the venom from Peter’s bite soaked into his vein. “Ah shit...what’s happening? What’d you do to me?” 

Too late Peter realized just how hard he’d bit his mate. There were twin puncture marks at Wade’s lip, Peter’s fangs still tasted of poison and blood and Wade was wavering, stumbling, eyes glazing over and speech stuttering as venom sunk into his bloodstream. The Arachnae let out a panicked cry and leapt off the balcony railing, tucked his limbs in close so he could reach with both hands to try and steady his mate before it was too late and Wade collapsed.

“I’m so sorry!” Peter was _frantic_ , cupping Wade’s chin and trying to see into his eyes, flattening his palm over Wade’s heart to try and measure the beats. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bite you! I didn’t mean to bite you! You touch me and--and no one touches me like that and it felt so good and I reacted without thinking and I--” 

“ _Pete_.” It was almost a growl, low and hungry and Peter’s next apology was lost behind a searing, claiming kiss. Wade fisted both his hands in Peter’s shirt and yanked the Arachnae up into his body, ground the painfully hard line of his cock into Peter’s thigh and then wrapped one hand around a bronzed limb and purposefully _pressed_ until Peter gasped in shock and half delirium and kissed him right back. 

“How are you okay?” Peter moaned in surprise when Wade thrust their tongues together, when one rough hand groped low at his rear and gathered him up even tighter. “Wait wait-- the poison--” 

“Can’t kill me, beauty.” Wade rumbled, and sucked at Peter’s bottom lip longingly, nibbled along his jaw and lay featherlight kisses over the lids of the eyes closest to the hinge of his jaw. “Can’t kill me so your venom isn’t bad for me, it’s like a damn _drug_. Like opium taking my pain away. I don’t hurt right now, first time in a century I haven’t hurt right down to my bones and that’s because of you. Cos of _you_ , mate.” 

“My bite doesn’t hurt you.” Peter whispered, eyes wide with wonder as he brushed over the mark on Wade’s mouth. “It um-- you feel good?” 

“ _You_ feel good.” Wade corrected, and pressed tighter to Peter’s core. “ _You_ feel good and your bite feels good-- mate, you were made for me.” 

“Mate.” Peter repeated, his gaze blinking midnight black. “Say it again.” 

“ _Mate_.” Wade’s grip tightened at Peter’s ass, and he slid his palm further along the over sensitive limb, feeling experimentally at the junction where it met Peter’s back through the silk shirt until the spider gasped, “That’s _good_.” and writhed against him breathlessly. “That’s good, don’t stop, touch me there again.” 

“Bite me.” Wade ordered and Peter grinned, wet his lips and darted forward to sink his fangs into the meat of Wade’s shoulder. Wade’s head snapped back and he stuttered, “Fuck yes... _yes_ …” as the poison curled through his system and made his cock throb, shot white hot behind his temples and ratcheted his heart rate to near lethal level. “God, I need more. I need more of you.” 

Wade was _fast_ , and he whipped them around to pin Peter to the column, trapped the Arachnae against the cool marble and shoved Peter’s wrists up high so the beautiful body was on full display for him to touch and kiss and _know_. 

“You’re so beautiful.” he rasped and Peter practically purred in pleasure. “ _Look_ at you.” the silk shirt shredded beneath Wade’s fingers and he bent his head to mouth wet kisses over the beautifully inscribed tattoo, tracing the webbing with his tongue and nosing over Peter’s heart, stretching his fingers wide over the lean muscles and narrow waist until he reached the waist band of the sinfully tight trousers. “Pete, I want you. _Need_ you. Let’s find somewhere soft and quiet and private and then I’m gonna--” 

Wade was fast, but Peter was faster and Wade was still mid sentence when he found himself abruptly grabbed, gathered in by six of Peter’s limbs and shoved against the opposite column on the other side of their little hideaway. 

“ _Shit_.” The show of strength only made Wade hotter and he gripped at his cock with a half desperate groan when Peter flashed venom tipped fangs in a knowing, pleased grin and _click click click click_ braced the four bronze legs on the column around him, effectively caging Wade in with no where to go. 

“...you’re gonna what?” Peter said lowly, leaned in to rub himself slowly, purposefully against Wade’s leg, ground the line of his cock into his mate until the tip was leaking through his pants and soaking through a wet spot, the musky scent of pure arousal leaving his mate weak kneed. “Hm? What makes you think _you’re_ going to do anything? Don’t you know spiders are predators?” 

Wade’s fingers tightened at Peter’s waist, mouth parting over a breathless, anxious noise that had the Arachnae grinning all over again, and Wade’s voice was purely adoring when he answered, “I’m more than happy to be your prey, Pete. But no one needs to see how we are together, so let’s find somewhere else. I want to be anywhere you are, so you lead and I’m gonna follow you.” 

“You’ll follow me cos you’re my mate?” Peter asked softly and Wade nodded, leaned in for a poisoned kiss and answered just as softly, “Cos I’m your mate.”

“Well, I think everyone in the world should see us bonding.” Peter hooked his finger under the leather than held Wade’s katanas and tugged at it lightly. “I want _everyone_ to know I’ve finally found you.” 

“I want everyone to know I finally found you too.” Wade echoed, but his gaze dropped eerie yellow and then blank white as he finished in a growl, “But I’ll be damned if anyone but me ever sees the way you look all spread out and naked and gorgeous, you hear? Everything you are is just for _me_ , mate. _Me_. **Mine**.” 

“ _Yours_.” Peter growled as well, scrunching his nose and bumping it lightly with Wade’s before he looked up at the top of the Tower and decided, “You’re right, no one needs to see us, but the stars should at least witness our bond. Will you go with me?” 

Wade followed Peter’s gaze up and _up_ and nodded. “Lead the way.” 

**************

If anyone would have happened to look away from their own mates long enough to glance towards the balcony of the Tower’s ballroom, they would have seen an Arachnae climbing one of the columns towards the roof, his intended mate staying perfectly trustingly _still_ as the huge spider moved up and over his body. 

If they would have looked closer, they would have realized Wade’s mouth was open, that he was dragging his lips over the tattooed web on the spider’s chest and digging his teeth into the flex of muscle as Peter crawled over him. Wade fit his hands to Peter's waist and shoved his nose into the vee of his hips, groaned hot and noisy over the outline of Peter's cock and the column _crumbled_ beneath the Arachnae’s fingers as he breathed a needy curse.

“ _Wade_.”

“Stay right here.” The button on the tight black pants popped off and rolled forgotten and unnecessary beneath the blackberry bush, the zipper unraveled beyond repair when Wade yanked at it and another piece of column _dusted_ in Peter's grip when first cool night air and then warm lips brushed over him. 

“What—“ words failed and Peter tried again. “What about the roof?”

“My mate.” Wade made an obscene, gorgeous picture looking up at Peter from between his legs, the spiders cock bobbing wet and eager just an inch from his mouth. “The roof can wait a moment. Stay _right here_.”

Peter had to muffle his shout into his hands, had to push his forehead to the column and work hard to steady his skittering limbs on the marble when Wade took him clear into his throat, swallowed him down to the root and then hummed in loud, _vibrating_ satisfaction when Peter jerked against the roof of his mouth. 

The Arachnae tried to hold himself still so he wouldn’t thrust and choke his mate or kick him with one of his legs, but staying still was damn near impossible with Wade running knowing, calloused hands up and down his back, squeezing at his ass and massaging over the tender skin where the four additional appendages rooted to his spine. Wade instinctively knew just where to touch his mate, how to hold the limbs and brush at the sensitive hairs until Peter was writhing and panting and whispering wordless begging down at him. He knew how to knead rough and then soothe gentle at Peter's ass, how to hold the lean hips tight enough to be possessive and then to hold them _tighter_ when pre come spilt onto his tongue and he knew Peter was close. 

Wade couldn't breathe but that was just fine. He didn’t need to breathe when he was holding someone so damn beautiful in his mouth and in his hands and coming apart down his throat. 

“ _Wade_.” _Acid_ ate into the stone when Peter's mouth fell open in a cry of pleasure, his fangs dripping poison as every nerve in his body lit up. “Please— please!” His voice rose in a scream when his mate pulled at him, cheeks hollow and tongue twisting wicked and Peter was _lost_. 

“ _Mate!_ ” 

“I’m never gonna have enough of how good you taste.” Wade cleaned Peter with slow suckles and long licks, wiped his own lips and then sucked anything left from his fingers with a satisfied rumble. “That’s a promise, my mate. _Promise_.” 

Peter murmured something that may have been a curse, may have been a prayer, as Wade smoothed all but worthless trousers back up over his hips. “R-roof?”

“ _Roof_.”

Wade waited until Peter had crawled up past him entirely, ran his hands adoringly over long legs and then pushed off the column, readjusted his swords at his back and leapt up the smooth marble to follow his mate skyward.

Peter dug his fingers into the stone and tore chunks of it away so Wade would have hand holds, and when they switched over to the wall of the Tower Wade was able to use the natural jut and callous of the red stones to propel himself higher. He had to push his muscles and speed close to _breaking_ to keep up with Peter who put all six of his limbs and both his hands to work skittering up the sheer surface, throwing out webs to connect to higher parts and laughing in delight when he looked over and saw Wade keeping pace step for step. 

“You’re so strong!” the spider was stronger than his mate, he was stronger than _everyone_ , but that didn’t stop him from ogling the stretch of Wade’s shoulders as he climbed, or thoroughly loving the grip of the thick fingers as Wade hauled himself up along the crevices and uneven stone. “My mate, you are incredible.” 

“ _You’re_ incredible.” Wade grinned up at Peter as the Arachnae wrapped a web around the bronze tipped parapet and yanked himself up and over the edge, disappearing into the dark for a moment. “God just…” a flash of heat, rippling low through his core and making Wade lick his lips again, chasing the taste of Peter on his tongue and down his throat. “...just _incredible_.” 

“Waiting on you!” came a teasing laugh from up above, and before Wade could get a properly snarky reply ready, a web wrapped like steel at his waist and he found himself abruptly propelled up the wall lightning fast. He barely got his feet under him in time to hit the ledge and vault over it, and Peter was there waiting to catch him, limbs spread wide in welcome and then snapping tight in a possessive, protective hold when Wade dropped onto the roof and met him in a clutching, grasping kiss. 

“Right here, I want you right here.” Wade shrugged out of his katanas and dragged Peter forward, and it was perhaps a miracle of the Tower’s near sentient existence, it was perhaps the foresight awarded the Dragon Queen by centuries of matchmaking, but the roof top was already piled high with blankets and pillows ready to catch the pair as they fell together. 

“Well, I want _you_ right here.” Peter arched his back into a messy kiss with his mate then braced his four limbs in the blankets and _twisted_ , rolling them so he was on top and pinning Wade down onto the pillows with a fraction of his strength. 

“Lovely.” Wade breathed when the Arachnae was looming above him outlined in the cool moonlight, monstrous and horrifying and so beautiful he could hardly stand it. “Pete, you’re gorgeous.” 

“I’m not.” Peter flattened his palms to Wade’s chest and smoothed over the bulge of his pecs, down to the rows along his abdomen and moaned low and hungry when he could cup the cock straining hard and heavy in Wade’s trousers. “But _you_ feel amazing, my mate. Other people feel slick cos my hands are so sensitive, they feel fake cos I can’t feel anything but lotion and perfume and oil on them but you are so real. So rough and--and--” 

The Arachnae made a noise that was almost a purr, trilling and clicking his tongue and palming over the front of Wade’s pants. “--I love the way you feel. Love the way you taste. I want to sink my teeth into you and taste every damn inch of your body.” 

“Do it.” Wade rasped and all of Peter’s eyes opened wide. “ _Bite me_ , mate.” 

...the burn of Peter’s fangs over his heart nearly killed Wade, literally almost killed him, made his eyes roll white and then back into his head, made his limbs seize up and his heartbeat stop...stop...stop...before it startled back into triple time as the venom turned to potent stimulant in his veins. 

“Pete... _more_ …” 

Another bite, cutting into Wade’s side and dragging along his ribs, scoring through his ragged skin and laying down lines of poison before the marks healed over. Another at the jut of his hip where fangs glanced off bone and the pain only twisted the pleasure higher. Pants were yanked down so the spider could bury his nose against the base of Wade’s cock and open mouth inhale the scent of _mate_ and _sex_ and _heat_ , and when his fingers dug into Wade’s thigh and held him down, Wade could only pant and gasp and grind up against Peter’s weight, helpless, wanton, desperate.

“Right here?” Was Wade’s warning a split second before Peter bit him again, a quiet “Right here?” and purposeful push of Peter’s thumb into the vital artery running up Wade’s thigh. Wade was very much a nightmare, he was very much a _monster_ but Peter still waited and asked to be sure his mate _really_ wanted him--

\--and of course Wade’s answer was _yes_ , barely more than a stuttered breath and pleading lift closer to the Arachnae’s mouth. 

_Yes_. He received the softest, most adoring kiss on his leg before Peter bared his teeth and bit high high up where thigh turned to groin, high enough to be dangerous, high enough to seriously wound his mate if the spider were so inclined, deep enough to kill someone should Peter so choose. 

But Wade wasn’t wounded and he certainly wasn’t _dead_. Peter’s venom poured liquid fire in his system and Wade clutched tight at the blankets, shouted his release to the blue moon with stomach clenching and legs stiffening as he came untouched, cock twitching and jerking with each moan from his mate, the vibration of Peter’s fangs sank deep into his artery making Wade nearly scream with the effort of coming again...and _again_ … until his body was aching and empty and still he was hard and red and straining.

“Don’t stop!” Wade arced up into a deeper stab of fangs, into another rush of aphrodisia into his over stimulated nerves. “Pete-- PETE!” 

“We’re just getting started.” The Arachnae promised and in the next second Wade was crying out for a different reason as Peter scooped up and puddle of come and used it to slide slick over Wade’s cock, to get his own hole wet and ready with a few impatient fingers so he could scramble up and sink down over his mate and take all of Wade in one rough push. 

“ _Shit_ \--!” Wade’s hands left bruises at Peter’s side when he was suddenly set deep inside Peter's body, pinned down by the Arachnae’s knees at his hips, surrounded on both sides by long limbs set firm on the blankets and Peter’s hands planted on his chest. “My mate, have mercy on me...!”

“Tell me no?” Peter was shaking with the effort of holding himself still, but he did it anyway, eyes shifting black and blinking uncertainly because Wade had called him _beautiful_ so many times tonight, he’d already said _yes_ so many times tonight but Peter had spent so much time alone and rejected and away that he wouldn’t have been surprised if Wade suddenly wanted to say _no_.

“Yes.” Wade sat up into a kiss, fit himself tighter into the spider and crushed their mouths together, cut his tongue on Peter’s fangs and groaned out loud when Peter licked the blood from between their lips. “Yes, beauty always. _Always_.” 

“Mmmmm.” Peter’s extra limbs scraped along the rooftop as he tried to wriggle even closer, to rock himself deeper on his mate. “Wade, you taste like forever.” 

“You taste like forever too.” Wade dragged his nails down Peter’s back, over the sensitive skin at the base of his legs, down to the lean hips and around to close his hand over Peter’s cock and stroke quick and firm until Peter was whining and thrusting forward into his palm then back to grind into his lap, circling his hips and shuddering with every push. “You taste like forever baby boy, and I don’t want to ever let you-- _oh_!” 

\--Wade startled when he was suddenly abruptly _webbed_ to the rooftop by wrists, elbows and around his chest, strapped down immoveable and gaping up at his mate in shock. “P--Pete? What just happened?” 

“Oh my god.” Peter stopped mid motion, cheeks flushing scarlet and eyes shuttering in embarrassment. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”

The webs _ri-ii-ii-pped_ when Wade flexed, the strings falling away as he sat up and cupped Peter’s chin in one hand, kept his other hand firm at his mate’s hip so Peter didn’t try to pull away. “Baby boy--” 

“Oh.” Peter gave a quiet little cry and his hands went impossibly sticky, cemented to Wade’s chest. “Oh oh _oh_ …” 

Wade glanced down between their bodies when his mate’s cock jerked leaking and throbbing red at the tip, tugged experimentally at Peter’s hands where they stuck at his heart, then lowered his voice to a deep register and rumbled, “ _Baby boy.”_

Peter clenched tight around Wade when he came, hid his face in the curve of Wade’s shoulder and sank his fangs in deep as he tried and failed to quiet a helpless scream when it took nothing more than the snarl of his mate’s voice calling him something sweet to push him over the edge. 

“Mate.” Wade sighed when the solid pressure of Peter’s legs circled over his shoulders and back and clutched him shivery and tight as Peter rocked through his orgasm. “You are perfect. _Beautiful_.” 

“I-- I--” Peter swallowed hard, worked his hands free from being stuck at Wade’s skin and then finally nodded a tiny bit. “I feel beautiful when I’m with you.” 

***********

The moon was starting to sink by the time the pair on the rooftop moved apart again. An hour at least, maybe two hours had passed with Peter sat on Wade’s lap, his limbs limp and eyes closed in peaceful bliss as his mate whispered quiet praise and soft adoration into his ear. 

Never in his entire life had Peter ever felt beautiful, never once had he felt adored or even _wanted_ but here beneath the full moon, above the last strains of music from the masquerade, within the circle of warm arms and resting about the steady heartbeat of a creature that was left somewhere between living and dead…

... _here_ , he felt beautiful and adored and wanted. 

Wade was still hard inside him and every few minutes Peter shifted back and forth on his mate’s lap, nipped just gently at the scarred skin to lay little drops of venom that made Wade sigh and press kisses to his temple, to his nose, featherlight across all his eyelids. Rough fingers spread wide over the tattoo on his chest and Peter settled firmer into the touch, let Wade hold all of his weight because Peter was strong, but Wade was strong too and it was a relief to know his mate could hold him safe. 

“Why the tattoo, baby boy?” Wade whispered after another few minutes, and Peter moaned softly over the sweet name before answering, “I’ve had it since I presented _Arachnae_. It's a way to identify ourselves to ourselves and to the other creatures and this here--” 

He traced the circular design at the very center, blue ink blending into purple then red and back to blue again. “--this here is my family colors. It announces my bloodlines so other Arachnae know who I come from.” 

“Who you come from.” Wade followed Peter’s direction around the design. “Are you Arachnae Royalty?” 

“Hardly.” Peter laughed quietly, fanged and sweet. “I would have black in my lines if I were royalty, and I wouldn’t be at a masquerade ball hoping to find a mate. I would have been promised to someone else long ago.” 

And shyly, “I’m glad I’m not royalty so I could be here to meet you.” 

“Either way you would have met me.” Wade swore. “We’re meant to be together, my mate.” 

“ _Yes_.” a slow kiss edged in sharp teeth. “Yes, we are.” 

“...the webs?” Wade wanted to know as they parted. “What happened when I called you baby boy?” 

“Oh.” Another soft flush. “I um-- I’ve never been called anything like that. Not sweetheart or beauty or honey or--or baby boy. It was nice and I got overwhelmed and got...webby.” 

“ _Why_ , though?” 

“It’s um--” Peter tightened around Wade until his mate swore and thrust up into him a little more. “It’s an Arachnae mating reflex. When we take our mate as ours we--we web them down so they won’t leave. Not in a creepy way, it’s supposed to be trusting. You would trust me to hold you down, I would trust that even if I wasn’t holding you down, you wouldn’t go anywhere.” 

“And since I wouldn’t go anywhere, I let you give into your instincts and it’s good for both of us.” Wade guessed, and could have melted when his mate blushed even harder and nodded. “You uh-- you want to web me down, Pete?” 

Peter swallowed and Wade dug his teeth into the movement of the Arachnae’s throat, pulling a ragged sigh from his mate. “God Wade, I _do_ want to web you down. Want to know that you’re not going anywhere, that I’ll always have you.” 

“Do it.” Wade’s eyes flickered hungry yellow and white again. “Web me down. Do it.” 

“You’d let me have you?” Peter whispered, rocking purposefully back onto Wade’s cock and squeezing him with his thighs. “Really?” 

“Gonna give you anything you want.” Wade promised, and then softer, and only half teasing-- “I’m willing to be your prey.” 

Peter’s eyes went ravenous, midnight black and Wade sucked in a sharp breath of anticipation when those wicked fangs made an appearance again, curved and dripping venom as Peter grinned. 

“Alright my mate.” Hot and hissing at Wade’s ear. “My turn, then.” 

...it had been a long time since Wade had trusted anyone enough to have him on all fours, a long time since he’d been able to relax enough to have a lover draped over his back and pressing into him from behind. 

...it had been along time since anyone had _wanted_ to be with him like this, since anyone had willingly surrounded him and mouthed kisses to the back of his neck, to his shoulders, to the bump of vertebrae as they opened him up around the head of their cock. Peter was almost shockingly big as he shoved in unrelenting past the rim of Wade’s hole and deep inside his channel to stroke and stroke and _stroke_ until Wade was tearing his nails through the rooftop and gasping out stuttered pleas for _more_ and _harder_ and pushing back into each thrust till Peter’s thighs were slapping against his own with every movement. 

“Stay still.” Peter groaned when Wade rolled back onto his cock, clenched tight and dragged him in deeper. “My mate, you have to stay--” _webs_ , thrashing out and locking Wade’s hands to the roof. “-- _still_ \--” another shot beneath at Wade’s heart and Peter yanked down so his mate’s chest hit the roof and curved his back into a graceful arch. “--or I won’t last, I won’t last so you gotta stay _still_.” 

\--- then Peter paused mid thrust, slowed so he could reach down and massage at the heavy sac and stroke the width of Wade’s cock, once, twice until it leaked white into his fingers, and asked softly, “Break the webs, my mate. Tear them, I know you can.” 

Wade growled and rolled his shoulders, flexed his wrists and snapped the webs in one quick jerk and Peter moaned in appreciation of the show, and when Wade resettled into the same position and ordered, “Web me down, baby boy.” Peter moaned all over again. 

Wade was willing to submit, willing to be tied down, willing to let Peter give into his basest, most monstrous instincts while they bonded and it was surreal, it was incredible, it was everything Peter had hoped for when he came to the masquerade and so much more than he’d ever thought to find. 

“You’re mine.” Peter crooned, low and savage as he filled Wade again in painfully slow increments, wrapped webs around his mate until Wade was trapped beneath him and panting for _more_ , dragged his fangs down Wade’s back until twin lines of blood welled up and stained the scars as the cuts healed but the blood cooled in the moonlight. “My mate, you are _mine_!” 

_Venom_ , burning in Wade’s veins and thrumming clear into his heart, _Pleasure_ , sparking bright as nimble touches took him to the edge and over again. _Mate_ , settling heavy in his soul and somehow light in his heart when Peter finally spilled inside him, when the Arachnae tore the webs away from his hands and linked their fingers tight and whispered, “I’m _yours_.” 

And Wade let the last of the poison fade from his system, tore out of the webs so he could roll over and bring Peter down onto his chest, smoothed his hands down the extra limbs and into Peter’s hair and caught his mate up in a long, long kiss. 

“ _Yours_.” 

**************

The sunrise found the Tower last in the early mornings. It crept first upon along the city streets and quiet neighborhoods first, peeking through windows and coaxing the early risers from bed for walks in the park or morning coffee. Then it came to the forest, turning the leaves verdant and the water cerulean as the nocturnal animals returned to their dens and the daylight creatures poked their heads out to greet the day.

The valley lit in soft light, golden rays and warm wind and as the city grew noisy and the neighborhoods clamored towards Sunday church and weekend activities, the sunlight wound through the grandmother trees higher in the hills and touched the base of the red rock at the Tower. 

It climbed slow and steady along the sheer walls, glinted gleaming off the bronze and gold pieces and because the Tower was nearly its own _being_ , the sunlight paused and came slower through the windows where new mates lay still wound together on wrecked sheets. It crept low along the halls where early risers lingered over kisses and sweet mimosas, slunk careful through velvet curtains and peered into private alcoves and only after every corner had been woken with tender light-- only then did the sunlight burst over the tops of the Tower and bathe the entire place _glowing_. 

It was there the sunlight found Wade and Peter, the Arachnae balanced on a near impossible precipice with six legs holding him steady and both hands wrapped around the monster settled over his heart. 

They were held safe by a myriad of tight webbing, resting relaxed over sheer drop to nothing below, their bodies sated and minds settled and hearts beating in perfect time to each other’s breathing. 

Wade’s eyes were closed, his muscles lax as Peter touched him carefully, adoring, neither shying away from the scars and ruin, nor pressing too hard and causing him pain. It was perfect, this was a perfect moment and Wade couldn’t imagine anything better besides waking up tomorrow morning and doing it all over again. 

“What should we do now, beauty?” he asked lazily, running his hands up one of Peter’s legs and smiling when the Arachnae predictably shivered and crooned down at him. “Are you hungry? Let me take you home and I’ll make you breakfast. I make amazing pancakes, and after I feed you we can talk about where we’re going to live together, yeah?” 

“Pancakes sound great.” Peter stretched and moaned, shook his legs out and sighed as the sunlight brought his monster form back under control, morphed him back to nearly human, and Wade grinned when he went from being held by a spider to holding about a hundred and seventy pounds of a curly hair, big eyes beauty in his lap. “And so long as I get to wake up next to you every morning, I don’t care where we live. My place is fine, your place is fine. I just need you, mate.” 

“You’re beautiful like this too, Pete.” Wade whispered and Peter snuggled tighter into his arms, held tight to Wade’s hand and closed his eyes in exhaustion. “I can’t wait to bring you home and have you _every_ way you are.”

“I can’t wait either.” Peter tipped his head up for a slow kiss, then asked, “The sun doesn’t change you back after the full moon?” 

Wade shook his head, a wiggle of anxious making his breath hitch. “Nah baby boy, this is me forever. I’m a monster all the time.” 

....and Peter looked up with a smile that showed off hooked, poisonous fangs and murmured, 

“Oh, my mate. I’m so _glad_.” 

***************

**Chapter Notes:**

_Monstery sex was more fun to write than I thought it would be. Yay for Monster!Peter getting a healthy dose of that unconditional acceptance and body worship that he always gives Wade in my fics._

_I read an article that said male nursery spiders have to web the legs of the female up during mating so she doesn’t get crazy and try to kill them and I mean... I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t the inspiration for Peter webbing Wade down, but also yay for trust in bondage and them giving in to monster instincts, right?_


End file.
